In League With Black Metal is the third full-length coming from Nocturnus Horrendus' main project Corpus Christii, the third release through Hiberica. It features four unreleased tracks, plus another two re-released from Saeculum Domini and Anno Domini respectively and covers from Kreator, Darkthrone, Celtic Dance and Decayed. Ainvar (Storm Legion), Conqueror (Celtic Dance) and JA (Decayed) are guest musicians.

Old school Scandinavian pioneers are the primarily influence in In League With Black Metal, but their mastery is lacking here. The album doesn't go beyond the average necro attitude we've all seen before, with all black metal clichés included. Sure there's a few interesting riffs here and there, but complexity is barely existent. For instance, Kreator's ''Tormentor'' gets completely wrecked as it got ripped off from its guitar solo, ending repetitive and annoying. Celtic Dance's ''Ancient Battlecry'' is cool with its danceable rhythm but very tedious, too. The overall lo-fi black metal mixed with the overly fast programmed drumming turned the whole album artificial, lacking personality. The guest musicians offer no more instinct into it and the covers are just plain average.

However, there are some good defiling moments around here. ''Rape, Torture And Death'', re-released from the demo Anno Domini, worked quite well with the ambient synths. Decayed's ''Fuck Your God'' features some very explicit lyrics plus the longest solo on the whole album (it wasn't that hard regarding the lack thereof around here), and the apocalyptic ''Submissive'' has some twisted keyboards and a distorted programmed drumming that dangerously skims the unbearable noise. Nocturnus Horrendus' ruthless vocals never seem to disappoint, always sharp, tawsing us like small children, backing up the general austere atmosphere. Trivia edit: only Corpus Christii's original material includes synthesizers here.

Black metal must be dealt with carefully. Performers have got to grab the genre by its throat, shape it wisely and have the talent to release music that sounds complex and fulfilling in the end. And we all know what happens when black metal gets mishandled don't we? Repetition, dullness, noise... an underwhelming mess! Black metal evolved and is developing its patterns as each day goes by. Thus, despite being released in 2002, In League With Black Metal could be less outdated and feature much more effort. Four unreleased tracks should appeal to fans but the album doesn't offer much to Corpus Christii's full catalogue overall. Even so, it's both the perfect display of their previous raw musical approach, and the bridge between that first half of their career and the improvements headed through the ''Torment'' trilogy in Tormented Belief, The Torment Continues and Rising.